1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an icon display processor for displaying and processing icons used on computer displays and, more particularly, to a method of displaying icons representing sub-data (i.e., objects or contents) embedded in, or linked to, main data (e.g., a document).
2. Description of the Related Art
When a list of documents is displayed with the conventional icon display processor, an icon is displayed for each document. The icon symbolizes the document. Using such icons, the user can select documents and perform operations (e.g., copying) on the documents.
In recent years, it has become possible to embed various kinds of data as document parts in this document or to link various kinds of data. For instance, image data and graphical data can be inserted in text data. Furthermore, voice and motion pictures can be inserted. These kinds of data will herein be referred to as sub-data and are generally managed as files separate from the main data. Techniques regarding icons are disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication Nos. 7-210360 (1995) and 6-28145 (1994).
With the prior art processor, icons representative of documents are simply displayed. Presence or absence of data (objects or contents) contained in a document or their kinds cannot be confirmed unless the document is once opened. For the same reason, it is impossible to gain direct access to independent data items within a document while an icon for the document is being displayed.
In view of the foregoing problems with the prior art technique, the present invention has been made to provide an icon display processor permitting a user to intuitively recognize sub-data embedded in, or linked to, main data while an icon for the main icon is being displayed.
The present invention also provides an icon display process or permitting a user to directly handle sub-data embedded in, or linked to, the main data while an icon for the main data is being displayed.
The icon display processor according to the present invention has a main icon display unit that displays a main icon representative of main data, and a sub-icon display unit that displays a sub-icon representative of sub-data together with the main icon if the sub-data form a part of the main data and are embedded in, or linked to, the main data.
In this configuration, the sub-icon representative of the sub-data and forming a part of the main data is displayed while the main icon is being displayed. This permits the user to recognize the presence of the sub-data. That is, since the sub-icon is displayed, the user can intuitively recognize the structure of the main data. The sub-icon may be identical in size to or smaller than the main icon.
The sub-icon described above may be displayed close to the main icon, or the sub-icon is displayed such that it appears partially from behind the main icon.
The aforementioned sub-icon may be displayed for each sub-data item. Alternatively, the sub-icon may be displayed for each kind of sub-data. Where a sub-icon is displayed for each item of sub-data, the user can easily recognize the number of sub-data items or their order. Where a sub-icon is displayed for each kind of sub-data, the user can readily recognize the kinds of sub-data contained.
Preferably, a mode selector unit is provided for permitting the user to choose between a close display mode in which plural sub-icons are displayed so as to overlap with each other in a congested manner and an expansion display mode in which plural sub-icons are displayed so as to overlap with each other but in a less congested manner. In the close display mode, the area of display is reduced and thus the display area can be utilized efficiently. In the expansion display mode, the presence of each sub-data item can be represented more clearly.
The sub-data described above may take a form corresponding to the kind of the sub-icon. This configuration permits the user to grasp the kind of the sub-data simply by viewing the sub-icon.
The icon display processor may have a program-activating unit that activates an application program corresponding to the sub-icon by performing given processing on the sub-icon. This application program processes the sub-data represented by the sub-icon.
This structure has the advantage that the application program associated with the sub-data can be directly activated without once activating the application program associated with the main data. Consequently, the cumbersomeness of the operations can be alleviated. Furthermore, the time taken to open the sub-data can be reduced. In addition, even if any application program for processing the main data is not present, the sub-data can be directly operated.
The icon display processor may have a copy unit that copies sub-data represented by the sub-icon when given processing is performed on the sub-icon. When the main icon moves, the sub-icon follows it. However, the sub-icon can be operated independent of the main icon.
An object managing table may be formed for each main data item to manage the kinds and the sequence of the sub-data items.
Multimedia data contains various kinds of data such as texts, graphics, images, motion pictures, and voices. Where the sub-icons as described above are displayed, if multimedia data are represented by icons, the data structure can be visualized. Therefore, the user can intuitively recognize the kinds and proportions of data contained. Before the data are opened, the sound volume and the resolution can be adjusted.
Other objects and features of the invention will appear in the course of the description thereof, which follows.